Gas prices tend to rise. But, between the Russian invasion of Ukraine, COVID, inflation, and everything else going on in the world, we are in the midst of a pretty hefty price hike. Demand is high, as always. And companies are working to ramp up production. Yet prices are still going up. Rising gas prices are with us.
The fact is, the cause of high gas prices doesn’t matter. Even without Russia, Ukraine, and COVID, there is plenty out there that can affect gas prices. Higher gas prices cause higher prices of everything. That, in turn, affects both demand and supply. It’s a vicious cycle.
No Business is Safe from Gasoline Prices Going Up
The price of gasoline affects all businesses. Fuel prices cause high prices across the entire supply chain. Rising costs of fuel means the cost to transport goods increases. That means the price of the goods themselves rise.
Whether you are a business that runs a fleet, or you just have a couple of company vehicles, the price of gas is an issue.
Use Gas Cards to Mitigate Rising Cost of Gas
It’s not a perfect solution, but it can help. At least, it can bridge a gap temporarily. Even better, some fuel cards offer discounts so you save on gasoline prices directly. Others offer points to help you save on non fuel related expenses.
Benefits of Using Gas Cards
With access to fuel cards, you don’t have to stop business, either production or transportation, when you can’t cover fuel immediately with cash on hand. This may allow companies to slow the need to increase prices, and help the market out just a little. Still, you have to be careful.
To avoid steep interest rates, you need to pay off the entire amount monthly. Also, be sure you choose a card with rewards that will actually help you.
Basically, just handle the cards responsibly. If you end up with a fuel bill you cannot pay at the end of the month, you aren’t helping yourself.
How Do You Find the Right Fuel Cards for Your Business?
Fuel cards can only help if you use them appropriately and take advantage of discounts and points. We have details on a wide variety of business cards, including fuel cards. Some of them are evenstarter vendors.
Our Business Credit Builder saves you time and money by taking the guesswork out of which cards you qualify for and when. We take you through a step-by-step process to build aFundable Foundation and beyond, so you canget the funding you need, when you need it.
Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich said Democrats’ strategy to invoke fear of former President Donald Trump is not going to work because Americans are terrified of high inflation and gas prices on “The Ingraham Angle” Monday.
Your Personal Credit Score Can Make a Difference When You Apply for a Business Loan
If you’re a small business owner, don’t assume your business credit is separate from your personal. If you apply for a loan, lenders will consider it on your personal credit, not your business credit. Your business credit score is considered on its own only if your company generates millions in annual income. Otherwise, assume that your personal credit score will matter.
Solid personal credit is a necessity. The need to build and maintain it never goes away for most small company owners.
Some lenders (like banks) place more importance on personal scores. This is for checking business loan applications.
To establish your business’ creditworthiness, most lenders first analyze your personal credit score. This happens with organizations in operation for only a few years. It also happens with businesses seeking their first business loan.
So, small business owners must focus on creating a solid business credit profile. This is along with building a good personal credit score.
What is the Difference Between Business Credit Score and Personal Credit Score?
Here are the main variations between company personal credit scores:
Business credit reports use Employer Identification Numbers (EINs). Personal credit reports use Social Security numbers (SSNs).
The ranges of personal and business credit scores are very different. Business scores tend to vary from 0 to 100. The range of personal credit scores is 300 to 850.
Experian manages both business and personal credit. They use separate databases and departments if you have both kinds of credit.
You can freeze or lock personal credit reports. But business credit reports cannot be locked or go under security freeze.
Different rules apply to data used in business and personal credit reports.
Anyone can examine your business scores (they must buy the report and scores). But only you and others who have your authorization can access your personal scores.
When do Lenders Consider a Personal Credit Score for Approving Business Loans?
When reviewing creditworthiness for a business loan, most lenders check personal credit history.
But some lenders will give your personal credit score less weight than others. Lenders may pay less attention to a poor personal credit score if you already have a track record of solid business credit.
Your personal credit will matter more for a business loan when any (or all) of the following are true:
a. If You’re Seeking a Loan from a Bank or Other Conventional Lender
You should assume banks have strict lending rules and often aren’t too flexible. But private lenders offer financial help. It’s in the form of business loans with low credit requirements. They provide funds considering a business owners’ personal score. This is even if the business score is low. Here, conventional lenders may check personal credit scores to offer you a business loan with flexible terms.
b. If Your Business is a Startup or Small in Nature
If your business score does not have enough info for lenders to check credibility, they will place a higher value on personal scores.
This can be the case with sole proprietorships or small businesses with few employees. Here, it may be hard for a conventional lender to distinguish between your business credit report and personal credit reports.
c. Your Personal Credit Score is Relatively Low
Even if you have a few old negative entries on your personal credit report, getting a business loan shouldn’t be tough. If your business’s credit history is excellent, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
But too many negative items on your personal credit history may damage your score. A low personal credit score is something a lender will notice and consider as a risk.
Your personal credit score reflects how you manage your personal credit liabilities. But some may argue that your personal credit score has nothing to do with how your business operates its business credit liabilities.
As a business owner, understand how your credit score is calculated, and how it’s used when you apply for a credit. And understand what you should do to improve it.
The consumer credit bureaus collect information from a consumer’s credit profiles to create FICO scores.Experian,Transunion, andEquifax are the three largest credit bureaus. These three major credit bureaus maintain the same basic formula to rate your credit. A personal credit score ranges from 300 to 850 and is rarely identical.
They calculate your FICO score using this basic, widely usedformula:
Payment History (35%)
Late payments, judgments, and bankruptcies are problematic. So are debt settlements, repossessions, charge-offs, and liens in your credit report. They will lower your personal credit score.
Debt Owed (30%)
Your personal credit score also depends on your debt-to-credit limit ratio. And it depends on the number of credit accounts, the total amount of credit balances, and the amount paid off on installment loans.
Credit History (15%)
Your credit history plays an integral part in building your credit score. The average age of the accounts and the length of your oldest credit account are the two most important criteria. The longer (or older) the file is, the better. This is because the score tries to forecast future creditworthiness based on past credit history.
Credit Types (10%)
Having different types of credit shows your ability to handle many credit accounts. These types include revolving, installment, and mortgage credit. It will definitely have a positive impact on your credit score.
New Credit Accounts (10%)
Each new “hard” inquiry on your credit report may have an adverse effect and may lower your score by 10%. Per Experian, these inquiries may stay on your report for a few years. But they will have no impact on your credit score after the initial year.
How Does This Information Build Your Credit Score?
Credit bureaus collect personal information like your name, date of birth, location, occupation, and more. They’ll also prepare a list of information that the creditors provide. Other information, like judgments or bankruptcy, will appear on your credit reports. It becomes part of your personal credit score. When you apply for new credit, your creditor will see all that info in your credit report and check your score.
If you find any inaccurate data reported, the credit bureaus have procedures in place to correct verifiable mistakes. Amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 1996 allow you to put a 100-word statement on any report that includes an item you dispute.
A range of factors can drive a bad credit score, including a divorce, severe illness, or loss of employment. This allows you to ensure that potential creditors are aware of the information.
Here’s what a potential creditor sees when they look at your score:
800-850 (Exceptional)
You should expect lenders to treat you like a king! With a credit score above 800, you can choose the best credit alternatives for your needs, and the best interest rates, from any lender you choose..
740-799 (Very Good)
If you have a credit score inside this range, lenders will treat you as a low-risk borrower. You can get a loan from almost any big lender with affordable rates. With this credit score, you can choose the best business loan that fits your business needs.
670-739 (Good)
This is a good score, and many people in the United States fall into this category. With this score, a borrower can hope to have more choices and approvals from various lenders.
580-669 (Fair)
This is a score that indicates a significant level of risk. A small business loan is feasible, but the interest rates will often be higher. If your score is in this range, you will have fewer possibilities than those with a higher level.
Most conventional lenders will not consider borrowers in this group for a small business loan. A personal credit score of 660 is the lowest that the SBA will typically consider.
300-579 (Very Poor)
Borrowers with this credit score can access some credit. But it’s considered a high-risk credit score. So there will likely be fewer possibilities and higher interest rates. If your score falls in this range and you want to get a business loan, consider offering some collateral.
How To Improve Your Personal Credit Score?
There is no simple solution to fix your personal credit score issues. But that doesn’t imply you can’t increase your score with time and effort. Here are six strategies to improve your personal credit score:
Analyze Your Score
You are entitled to get a free credit report once a year from annualcreditreport.com. You can get your credit report as many times as you want from all three major credit reporting agencies. These bureaus provide credit monitoring services for an affordable fee. Get your report from them and analyze it properly.
Make Good Use of Credit
This may sound oversimplified, but it’s critical. Resist the urge to use all your credit limits all the time. This is so even if you pay off the total outstanding debt balance every month throughcredit card debt consolidation. Using all the available credit further can damage your credit score.
Keep credit usage to roughly 15% of your available credit limit to increase your credit score.
Make Your Payments On Time
This is most likely the best and most successful strategy to improve your score. How fast you make payments and satisfy your liabilities makes up 35% of your score. A single late payment can significantly reduce your credit score.
Do Not Apply for Excess Credit
Applying for unnecessary credit reduces your credit score. So if you’re attempting to raise your score, it’s not a good idea.
Don’t Transfer Balances Too Often
Transferring balances from one credit card to another does not affect your credit score. But, it’s generally known as a wrong financial move that could harm your personal credit. Frequently transferring balances can put a bad impression on your future creditors.
Have Patience and Keep Trying
Improving your credit score requires strong determination and hard work. Your constant effort over six months or even a year can make a significant difference. But missing a payment or two will almost certainly lower your credit score fast.
About the Author:
Lyle Solomon has considerable litigation experience. He has substantial hands-on knowledge and expertise in legal analysis and writing. Since 2003, he has been a member of theState Bar of California. In 1998, he graduated from the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. He now serves as a principal attorney for theOak View Law Groupin California.
Your Personal Credit Score Can Make a Difference When You Apply for a Business Loan If you’re a small business owner, don’t assume your business credit is separate from your personal. If you apply for a loan, lenders will consider it on your personal credit, not your business credit. Your business credit score is considered … Continue reading Why do Lenders Prefer Using a Personal Credit Score to Approve a Business Loan?
Your Personal Credit Score Can Make a Difference When You Apply for a Business Loan
If you’re a small business owner, don’t assume your business credit is separate from your personal. If you apply for a loan, lenders will consider it on your personal credit, not your business credit. Your business credit score is considered on its own only if your company generates millions in annual income. Otherwise, assume that your personal credit score will matter.
Solid personal credit is a necessity. The need to build and maintain it never goes away for most small company owners.
Some lenders (like banks) place more importance on personal scores. This is for checking business loan applications.
To establish your business’ creditworthiness, most lenders first analyze your personal credit score. This happens with organizations in operation for only a few years. It also happens with businesses seeking their first business loan.
So, small business owners must focus on creating a solid business credit profile. This is along with building a good personal credit score.
What is the Difference Between Business Credit Score and Personal Credit Score?
Here are the main variations between company personal credit scores:
Business credit reports use Employer Identification Numbers (EINs). Personal credit reports use Social Security numbers (SSNs).
The ranges of personal and business credit scores are very different. Business scores tend to vary from 0 to 100. The range of personal credit scores is 300 to 850.
Experian manages both business and personal credit. They use separate databases and departments if you have both kinds of credit.
You can freeze or lock personal credit reports. But business credit reports cannot be locked or go under security freeze.
Different rules apply to data used in business and personal credit reports.
Anyone can examine your business scores (they must buy the report and scores). But only you and others who have your authorization can access your personal scores.
When do Lenders Consider a Personal Credit Score for Approving Business Loans?
When reviewing creditworthiness for a business loan, most lenders check personal credit history.
But some lenders will give your personal credit score less weight than others. Lenders may pay less attention to a poor personal credit score if you already have a track record of solid business credit.
Your personal credit will matter more for a business loan when any (or all) of the following are true:
a. If You’re Seeking a Loan from a Bank or Other Conventional Lender
You should assume banks have strict lending rules and often aren’t too flexible. But private lenders offer financial help. It’s in the form of business loans with low credit requirements. They provide funds considering a business owners’ personal score. This is even if the business score is low. Here, conventional lenders may check personal credit scores to offer you a business loan with flexible terms.
b. If Your Business is a Startup or Small in Nature
If your business score does not have enough info for lenders to check credibility, they will place a higher value on personal scores.
This can be the case with sole proprietorships or small businesses with few employees. Here, it may be hard for a conventional lender to distinguish between your business credit report and personal credit reports.
c. Your Personal Credit Score is Relatively Low
Even if you have a few old negative entries on your personal credit report, getting a business loan shouldn’t be tough. If your business’s credit history is excellent, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
But too many negative items on your personal credit history may damage your score. A low personal credit score is something a lender will notice and consider as a risk.
Your personal credit score reflects how you manage your personal credit liabilities. But some may argue that your personal credit score has nothing to do with how your business operates its business credit liabilities.
As a business owner, understand how your credit score is calculated, and how it’s used when you apply for a credit. And understand what you should do to improve it.
The consumer credit bureaus collect information from a consumer’s credit profiles to create FICO scores.Experian,Transunion, andEquifax are the three largest credit bureaus. These three major credit bureaus maintain the same basic formula to rate your credit. A personal credit score ranges from 300 to 850 and is rarely identical.
They calculate your FICO score using this basic, widely usedformula:
Payment History (35%)
Late payments, judgments, and bankruptcies are problematic. So are debt settlements, repossessions, charge-offs, and liens in your credit report. They will lower your personal credit score.
Debt Owed (30%)
Your personal credit score also depends on your debt-to-credit limit ratio. And it depends on the number of credit accounts, the total amount of credit balances, and the amount paid off on installment loans.
Credit History (15%)
Your credit history plays an integral part in building your credit score. The average age of the accounts and the length of your oldest credit account are the two most important criteria. The longer (or older) the file is, the better. This is because the score tries to forecast future creditworthiness based on past credit history.
Credit Types (10%)
Having different types of credit shows your ability to handle many credit accounts. These types include revolving, installment, and mortgage credit. It will definitely have a positive impact on your credit score.
New Credit Accounts (10%)
Each new “hard” inquiry on your credit report may have an adverse effect and may lower your score by 10%. Per Experian, these inquiries may stay on your report for a few years. But they will have no impact on your credit score after the initial year.
How Does This Information Build Your Credit Score?
Credit bureaus collect personal information like your name, date of birth, location, occupation, and more. They’ll also prepare a list of information that the creditors provide. Other information, like judgments or bankruptcy, will appear on your credit reports. It becomes part of your personal credit score. When you apply for new credit, your creditor will see all that info in your credit report and check your score.
If you find any inaccurate data reported, the credit bureaus have procedures in place to correct verifiable mistakes. Amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 1996 allow you to put a 100-word statement on any report that includes an item you dispute.
A range of factors can drive a bad credit score, including a divorce, severe illness, or loss of employment. This allows you to ensure that potential creditors are aware of the information.
Here’s what a potential creditor sees when they look at your score:
800-850 (Exceptional)
You should expect lenders to treat you like a king! With a credit score above 800, you can choose the best credit alternatives for your needs, and the best interest rates, from any lender you choose..
740-799 (Very Good)
If you have a credit score inside this range, lenders will treat you as a low-risk borrower. You can get a loan from almost any big lender with affordable rates. With this credit score, you can choose the best business loan that fits your business needs.
670-739 (Good)
This is a good score, and many people in the United States fall into this category. With this score, a borrower can hope to have more choices and approvals from various lenders.
580-669 (Fair)
This is a score that indicates a significant level of risk. A small business loan is feasible, but the interest rates will often be higher. If your score is in this range, you will have fewer possibilities than those with a higher level.
Most conventional lenders will not consider borrowers in this group for a small business loan. A personal credit score of 660 is the lowest that the SBA will typically consider.
300-579 (Very Poor)
Borrowers with this credit score can access some credit. But it’s considered a high-risk credit score. So there will likely be fewer possibilities and higher interest rates. If your score falls in this range and you want to get a business loan, consider offering some collateral.
There is no simple solution to fix your personal credit score issues. But that doesn’t imply you can’t increase your score with time and effort. Here are six strategies to improve your personal credit score:
Analyze Your Score
You are entitled to get a free credit report once a year from annualcreditreport.com. You can get your credit report as many times as you want from all three major credit reporting agencies. These bureaus provide credit monitoring services for an affordable fee. Get your report from them and analyze it properly.
Make Good Use of Credit
This may sound oversimplified, but it’s critical. Resist the urge to use all your credit limits all the time. This is so even if you pay off the total outstanding debt balance every month throughcredit card debt consolidation. Using all the available credit further can damage your credit score.
Keep credit usage to roughly 15% of your available credit limit to increase your credit score.
Make Your Payments On Time
This is most likely the best and most successful strategy to improve your score. How fast you make payments and satisfy your liabilities makes up 35% of your score. A single late payment can significantly reduce your credit score.
Do Not Apply for Excess Credit
Applying for unnecessary credit reduces your credit score. So if you’re attempting to raise your score, it’s not a good idea.
Don’t Transfer Balances Too Often
Transferring balances from one credit card to another does not affect your credit score. But, it’s generally known as a wrong financial move that could harm your personal credit. Frequently transferring balances can put a bad impression on your future creditors.
Have Patience and Keep Trying
Improving your credit score requires strong determination and hard work. Your constant effort over six months or even a year can make a significant difference. But missing a payment or two will almost certainly lower your credit score fast.
About the Author:
Lyle Solomon has considerable litigation experience. He has substantial hands-on knowledge and expertise in legal analysis and writing. Since 2003, he has been a member of theState Bar of California. In 1998, he graduated from the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. He now serves as a principal attorney for theOak View Law Groupin California.
From sales targets to conversion rates, chances are you track a range of valuable analytics data. After all, this data allows you to create a winning marketing strategy and grow your business.
The problem? It’s not always easy to make sense of the data, especially if it’s held across a bunch of different files on your hard drive.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could bring these data sources together and view, at a glance, exactly how your marketing strategies are performing? If you could visualize your data and share your findings with key team members?
Well, I’ve got great news for you. Power BI (short for business intelligence), a Microsoft tool, makes all of this (and more!) possible.
Let me introduce you to what’s awesome about Power BI and give you some ideas for how to use it as part of a wider marketing strategy.
What Is Power BI?
Think of Power BI as a connectivity tool. The interface allows you to bring unconnected sources together, like data from spreadsheets or online services, and turn them into rich, interactive reports.
With Microsoft’s Power BI, you can visualize your marketing data and gain insights you might not access otherwise. Visual reports may help give you a better sense of what’s working across your organization:
Whether you need a report for a presentation or a new marketing strategy, Power BI can help.
There are three parts to Power BI:
Power BI Desktop: Power BI Desktop is an application for creating and exporting reports.
Power BI service: With the Power BI cloud service, you can view reports created in the Power BI Desktop service and share them across the company.
Power BI mobile app: The Power BI mobile app is a portable tool for monitoring reports and acting on real-time data.
There are also free different subscription levels, depending on your needs:
Power BI Free: With Power BI Free, you can access the Power BI Desktop app to create and manage reports.
Power BI Pro: Starting at $9.99 per user per month, Power BI Pro gives you access to the cloud-based service.
Power BI Premium: This powerful, enterprise-level analytics tool starts at $20 per user per month.
You can use the Power BI Desktop app on the free tier, but you can’t use the cloud-based service without a paid subscription. This means you can generate reports in the free app, but you can’t share them on the cloud.
Microsoft has made Power BI as straightforward as possible, but let’s walk through some of the key steps for getting started.
Choose Pricing Structure
First, decide which plan you want. As mentioned, you can sign up for the free plan, which uses the Power BI Desktop app, a free Pro or Premium trial, or a paid monthly subscription.
To find out more about the tiers, check out the pricing page.
Open an Account
Next, you need a Power BI account.
Click “Try free” or “Buy now” on the pricing page, depending on which plan you choose. Then, follow the onscreen instructions to create your Power BI account:
Once you’re set up, you can start using the Power BI suite.
Many marketers use Power BI Desktop to import datasets, create reports, and then switch to the cloud-based Power BI service to share their findings and collaborate.
However, you might only need Power BI Desktop if you work alone or share data very occasionally.
With that in mind, here’s how to get Power BI Desktop.
Follow the instructions to install the program on your device.
If you’re going for a paid tier, you can then sign up for the cloud-based Power BI service.
Import Your Data
To get started with Power BI Desktop, you need to import data. You can import data from multiple sources, including the web, Excel spreadsheets, and existing Power BI datasets.
First, select “Get data” from Power BI’s home ribbon, and pick your data source:
To see all available data sources, click the “More” option at the bottom of the menu.
Next, open the relevant file.
Remember, you’re not restricted to importing just one dataset.
Model Your Core Marketing Data
To create a visual report, you must first create relationships between your data sources. You do this by modeling your data.
Microsoft has a whole tutorial on this, but essentially, “modeling” is how you decide what type of report you want to create.
For example, maybe you want a report showing conversion rates for different paid ads for A/B testing purposes. As long as you have the data, you can make it visually usable with Power BI.
Visualize the Data
Next, choose your visualization. Your visualization is the format for reviewing your report, such as pie chart, bar chart, and so on:
You can also segment the data further by adding custom on-screen filters for your team members to interact with.
Export Your Work
Ready to share your work? If you’re using the Power BI service, simply access your desired report from the workspace and click the “Share” option:
Once shared, your recipients can interact with the report based on whatever permissions you give them.
One option is to convert it to a PDF. You can then share the report with others or move it over to the Power BI service.
To create a PDF from the Power BI Desktop side menu bar, click on options in the following order:
file
export
export to PDF
The document then loads onto your standard PDF viewer, and you can share it easily from there.
How to Use Power BI to Improve Your Marketing
OK, so that’s how Power BI works.
How can you use the tool to improve your marketing strategy, though?
While there are many ways you can use the interface, here are four ways you can employ Power BI as a marketing professional.
1. Measure Organic Data
Organic data is hugely important to any marketer because it shows how many people engage with your content and buy your services without clicking on paid ads.
Power BI makes it simple to track organic data. For example, say you want to track your most popular keywords. With Power BI, you can easily import keyword data from a spreadsheet or platform like Google Analytics and analyze the results.
What’s more, you can use the report you generate to impress prospective clients with your SEO knowledge and, in turn, potentially secure new business.
2. Measure Paid Ad Results
Want to measure your paid ad performance?
Simply import your relevant data, such as keyword research, cost-per-click (CPC) analysis, and conversion rates into Power BI. This may help you better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your paid ad campaigns.
You can also create reports combining your paid and organic data. In this sense, Power BI offers you a unique insight into your overall marketing performance by combining highly valuable datasets in a clear, visually appealing way.
3. Analyze and Monitor Your Social Media Marketing Strategy
Is social media integral to your marketing strategy? With Power BI, you can create a dedicated dashboard to help you track key performance metrics, such as:
audience reach
number of impressions
social media mentions
content shares
influencer marketing performance
most popular posts
Power BI is a helpful tool for helping marketers visualize their campaigns and monitor social media performance. It’s compatible with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so it’s flexible enough to handle cross-channel marketing campaigns.
4. Present Marketing Reports
Maybe you want to impress a key client with marketing insights. Or, perhaps you’re meeting with senior management, and they want a detailed performance overview. In any case, Power BI lets you generate clear, engaging, user-friendly reports to share with others.
You could also use Power BI reports to identify trends and growth opportunities in the marketplace or as part of a business startup modeling plan.
Power BI for Marketing: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Power BI?
Microsoft’s Power BI lets you turn datasets into visual analytics reports. You can then visualize critical marketing data and share the results across your organization.
What Are the pros and cons of Power BI for marketers?
Power BI is an affordable, scalable tool for transforming raw data into visual reports. It’s customizable, flexible, and fosters collaboration within your team.
On the other hand, the dashboard may seem crowded. It also takes a fair amount of time to process high volumes of data, and it can take a while to master the interface.
All things considered, though, it’s worth giving it a shot.
How much does Power BI cost?
There’s a free tool for developing reports and viewing them privately. However, if you plan to share reports in the cloud or need an enterprise-level solution, monthly subscription packages are available.
Can I connect Power BI to Facebook?
You can import Facebook data to Power BI. Request a copy of your Facebook page information, download the report, and import your chosen files or datasets into Power BI. The process is similar for Instagram and Twitter data.
Microsoft’s Power BI lets you turn datasets into visual analytics reports. You can then visualize critical marketing data and share the results across your organization.
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Power BI for Marketers: Conclusion
With Power BI, visualizing your core marketing data just got a whole lot easier. You can view everything from sales targets to paid ad performance from a single dashboard, which could help you pivot your marketing efforts to suit your goals and objectives.
What’s more, there’s a subscription to suit every budget, whether you need a free data visualization tool or a scalable enterprise-level solution.
All that said, Power BI is not the only data visualization tool out there, so before you commit to a paid plan, you might want to explore all your options. If you need more help reaching your marketing goals or identifying which metrics to track, you can check out my consulting services.
Have you tried Power BI yet? How’s it working for you?
Working from home has many advantages. One of the easiest ways to start a business is to start it from your own home. It’s the most natural way to start for many. Whether you are baking, woodworking, offering a service, or anything else, doing so out of your house has many advantages. What isn’t discussed as often are the disadvantages of working from home.
5 Surprising Disadvantages of Working from Home
Most business owners just assume that if they are running their business from home, their home address and their business address will be one and the same. That’s fine, but what if you decide to move out of your home? Changing business address can cause issues. This is just one of many surprising disadvantages of working from home.
Disadvantages of Working from Home #1: Your Home May Not Be Conducive to Productive Work
A home may not necessarily be well equipped to handle working. You need a workspace that will help you be productive. This will be different for everyone. But, consider that you at least need a room with a door you can close. Drawing boundaries between home life and work life can be hard.
Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.
Managing time can be harder when working from home as well. It can be easy to work all day when you are at home, or not work enough due to “home” distractions. It’s hard to get people to respect your time and boundaries. Also, isolation and depression are not uncommon.
Disadvantages of Working from Home #2: You May Not Be Allowed to Run Your Business From Your Home
In some situations, you may not be allowed to run your business from your home. If you rent, you will need to check your lease to make sure there are no issues. Whether you rent or own, you need to check zoning requirements. Also, agencies like the Health Department and the FDA have guidelines related to running certain types of businesses from your home.
Disadvantages of Working from Home #3: Home Address on Public Record
Many people worry about their home address as their business address. They feel it is unsafe, so they turn to a PO Box or an UPS Box. However, that can make it difficult to get funding. Lenders require a physical address.
This is a unique disadvantage of home-based businesses. Even home based businesses need funding for a number of things:
One option is to use a virtual address. Be aware however, that some lenders will not accept those either. The truth is, if someone wants to find your home address, it’s easy enough regardless of whether you use it as your business address or not. In the end, to get funding for your business you are going to need to use a physical business address where you an receive mail.
Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.
Disadvantages of Working from Home #4: Changing Your Business Address Later Can Cause Problems
You may think you can get by with using your personal address now, and just change it later. That’s not a good idea. If you think about it, your business address goes everywhere. For example:
All legal documents
Licences
Marketing materials
Your website
Insurance papers
Everywhere!
The longer you wait, the more places you will have to remember to change it. It is a bigger deal than you may think if you miss one. If lenders start looking into your business and see your business address is listed differently in different places, it can cause unnecessary issues. It brings up fraud concerns.
A bank will not take the time to try to figure out all the different ways a business may be listed. Even something as simple as using Street vs St, or using an ampersand in one spot and the word “and” in another can cause issues. So you can imagine using your home address in one spot and a separate business address in another will definitely cause problems.
That doesn’t mean that if you move your business out of your home you have to keep your home address. Just be aware that you will need to make sure the address is changed everywhere.
Disadvantages of Working from Home #5: Legal Issues
There are a number of legal considerations that you have to think about when it comes to running a home based business. For example, even if zoning laws allow you to run your business from your home. You need to check out what requirements those laws lay out. Some cities have regulations regarding foot traffic. Some even regulate yard sign use for advertising. And if you have an Homeowners Association (HOA) you may need their permission as well.
Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.
Some cities limit the number of employees a home based business can have. Some even regulate the number of customers that can come to your door. You’ll need to check with your local city officials to determine what if any regulations apply to you. And figure out what licences and permits you need to operate.
Consider the tax issues as well. While you can deduct some expenses when it comes to home-based businesses, it can get complicated. You need to make sure you thoroughly understand the home business deduction on the front end and plan accordingly.
Insurance needs to be considered as well. If you have employees or customers coming in and out, you need to think about what would happen if they were injured. Will homeowners’ insurance cover it? Often you will need to purchase a separate policy or a rider. All insurance needs to be in place on the front end. Be sure it has the proper business address on it!
Avoid Many Disadvantages of Working From Home
Nothing is perfect. Running a business from your home is no different. However, you can avoid many of the disadvantages of working from home by building fundability from the beginning. Not only will it help with legal issues, but it makes a bigger difference than you may think when it comes to funding.
The best way to start building fundability, whether you own a home-based business or run a business from a different location, is to work with a business credit expert. Contact us today for a free consultation.
There’s a ton of advice about using Instagram as an effective online marketing tool, but it can be challenging to scale your e-commerce brand on Instagram if you are a new brand without many followers yet.
New accounts often have low engagement rates, which can be disheartening, but there are ways to navigate this period strategically.
Let’s talk about why Instagram as a marketing tool matters, how it can help you grow your business, and look at effective strategies to grow your e-commerce brand—even when you have no followers.
To do this, you have to understand what makes Instagram a powerful e-commerce tool.
Research shows we remember more of what we see through photos and videos than what we read through plain text. This makes visually-oriented platforms like Instagram a prime tool for marketing.
Instagram lets you upload product photos, share demo videos, launch partnerships with influencers, connect with engaged followers, and boost your ROI.
Engaging with users takes mere minutes but has the potential to boost your revenue significantly.
Here’s how to get started.
Turn on notifications for all comments.
Respond to every comment you receive, be it positive or negative. This will help increase engagement on your posts.
Review feedback and see if there are areas you can improve in.
Thank users for taking the time to interact with your posts.
Avoid starting fights in your comment sections, even if you disagree with a user’s perspective. This will help you maintain a positive impression online.
Research Competitors
If you’re not sure about how to get started, look at what your competitors are doing.
Your competitors have already done a ton of the heavy lifting and collected a huge base of engaged followers. You can use this to your advantage.
All you have to do to attract your own following is to head to the Instagram profiles of your competitors and steal their audience.
You should already have a pretty good idea of who your competitors are. If you don’t, try using Instagram’s discover tool to find popular accounts in your industry.
You can also search for keywords and hashtags that relate to your brand to get started. The top accounts relating to that keyword should appear.
They typically say, “like this post and tag a friend to win a free product, but that strategy might not be the most effective way to gain real followers.
Giveaways often attract people who want free stuff and are willing to like your images to get it.
Instead, ask users to upload Instagram photos about your e-commerce brand or follow your page. If you ask users to post content, be sure to share a branded hashtag to get discovered by more users.
To start, announce your contest with an Instagram post. Include the rules in the description section so people will know how to enter.
If you need help coming up with giveaway ideas, try out a tool like Woobox. The tool helps brands of all types and sizes create social media contests that drive sales, increase followers, and collect leads.
Consider offering your own products for free instead of prizes unrelated to your niche or brand, like a free iPad. Otherwise, people may only follow you for the prize rather than their interest in your brand.
Post User-Generated Content (UGC)
If you want to drive engagement, make a habit of posting user-generated content. This can be as simple as asking users to review your product in exchange for a free sample.
You can also choose to host bigger UGC contests where dozens (or hundreds) of users share their experiences related to your product and industry. This can help you reach new users you wouldn’t have found otherwise.
Customize and Optimize Your Shop
Giveaways and hashtags might be easier than a customized, well-optimized shop, but they aren’t more important.
Here are a few ways to customize and optimize your Instagram e-commerce store for maximum visibility.
Offer promotions right in the photo or the first line of the description, so users don’t scroll past it.
Add shoppable links to your photos so customers can buy your product directly.
Keep your descriptions simple, clean, and easy to understand so new users can quickly get an idea about what your Instagram e-commerce brand stands for.
Add links to your store on other channels, including your Instagram description (or bio), website, other social media pages, and email signature.
Create a Branded Hashtag
A simple way to keep track of who is talking about your e-commerce store on Instagram is to create a branded hashtag. You can use your business name, an existing slogan, or another creative phrase.
Then, let your customers know what the tag is by adding it to your bio and encouraging followers to use it in their posts.
Later, you can search for your hashtag to find and quickly share user-generated content. You should also add these tags to your images to remind your followers about it.
For instance, when you search the tag “#topshop,” millions of photo results show popular UGC related to the brand.
User-generated images don’t just give your brand more exposure; they also give other Instagram users exposure so they can gain more followers, too. It’s a win-win situation.
Prioritize Customer Experience
Sometimes you can do all the right things and still not get satisfactory results. You used all the right hashtags, engaged with your customers, and created tons of user-generated content, but you’re still not getting many sales.
Are you making it easy for Instagram users to find your website or buy your products? Is your storefront easy to navigate? Do you have alt-text for your images? Do you offer a prompt response to questions?
These may seem like trivial things, but a good customer experience can go a long way in helping you find lifelong customers.
Partner With Influencers in Your Niche
Instagram influencers are users with a large number of followers and a great engagement rate.
Why do they matter for your Instagram e-commerce business?
They can help you expand your brand’s reach. These individuals have hundreds, thousands, sometimes millions of followers interested in hearing what these influencers have to say.
So if they recommend your product on their account, you are likely to see an uptick in sales.
Find influencers and large accounts in your niche. For example, if you’re a beauty company, reach out to beauty bloggers and ask them for a product post.
If a user puts an email address on their profile or says something like “DM for business inquiries,” it typically means they’re interested in sharing sponsored posts.
Email or DM these accounts and ask what their standard pricing is for sponsored posts. Try and establish a relationship with these users.
If they’re willing to work with your competitor, they may be willing to work with you.
Then, make a spreadsheet comparing each account’s followers, cost per post, CPM, average likes per post, and followers divided by the average likes per post.
Pick the account(s) with the biggest payoff and lowest price.
If you’re selling an original or unique product, it may be better to ask for a review instead of a product post.
Don’t think you have to go for the big names. Sometimes micro-influencers with just a few thousand followers have a better ROI because they have a more targeted audience.
Use Product Tags
Another way to increase customer convenience is to use product tags to amplify your Instagram e-commerce sales.
This makes it easier for them to purchase, especially if they are browsing on the go (like most of us.)
Create Product Collections
Instagram has been working hard to create user-friendly shop interfaces to increase e-commerce activity.
Along with handy features like product tags, Instagram launched product collections, where users can browse through products from a similar category.
This image from the Instagram business blog shows that product collections make it straightforward to find what you want while scrolling through attractive pictures of the products.
Instagram E-Commerce FAQs
Do I have to pay for an Instagram e-commerce shop?
Creating an Instagram account highlighting your products is free, but you may have to spend money on advertising, shipping, taxes, transaction fees, and other tools to make a sale.
How to know if I’m eligible for an Instagram e-commerce shop?
Instagram has posted official eligibility guidelines on their help page. These include having a legal product, being located in a supporting market, and providing accurate information about your business, among other rules.
How many followers do you need to get Instagram shopping?
Unlike the 10,000-follower rule for the swipe-up feature on Instagram Stories, anybody can access Instagram e-commerce features as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.
Do you need a website to sell on Instagram?
Yes, Instagram’s e-commerce rules state that your business must own a website domain from which you intend to sell your products to qualify for an Instagram shop.
If so, you need to focus your efforts on inbound marketing strategies for your startup.
Why?
It’s one of the best ways to take market share from bigger companies, and you don’t need a hefty Facebook Ads budget to compete.
Instead of broadcasting to the customer, as traditional outbound marketing does, inbound marketing focuses on creating reasons for the customer to come to you.
According to HubSpot, which coined the term “inbound marketing” back in 2006, the strategy consists of four stages.
It’s a proven system that works for the best companies in the world, and it has launched dozens of startups to stellar success.
Inbound Marketing Strategies for Start-Ups
Now that you know what is inbound marketing and how it works, let’s dive into the best strategies for inbound marketing for startups.
1.Use Facebook to Create a Target Persona
The first and most critical part of creating compelling content is understanding what your target customers want to learn.
You need to have an in-depth knowledge of your market so you can react quickly.
Here’s how you learn more about who your audience is by reviewing your Facebook Page Insights.
First, go to your Facebook page. At the top, you’ll see a button labeled Insights. Click on it.
In the sidebar that opens, click on People.
From there, you’re going to want to look at the Your Fans column. Check to see where the percentages lie to understand what demographics apply to your business.
This can give you a general feel for who is interested in your startup and start forming the basis of your target persona. But that’s not all we need.
Next, we will find out what interests these people and how you can write content that appeals to what they care about.
2. Survey Your Current Customers and Leads
The easiest way to get to know your target market is through a survey.
This doesn’t have to be complicated. If you already have an email list, you can send them a simple form through SurveyMonkey.
To make this work, you only need to ask one question: “What is your biggest struggle?”
Your goal is to understand the problems they’re facing so you can create compelling content that targets their deepest interests.
3. Conduct In-Depth Interviewsto Inform Your Inbound Marketing Efforts
Once you have the general feelings of your target market, it’s a good idea to start seeking out individuals you can contact for more in-depth information.
I recommend looking for a few clients or customers you’ve already acquired.
Ask them if they’d be OK with a 10-minute phone call or a video chat about their current struggles. Mention you’ll offer them advice if you can.
(Usually, customers are excited about this. It’s like a free consultation for them.)
Once you’re on the call, try to find out exactly what their biggest struggles are. Ask them to describe those struggles in the clearest language possible.
Get to exactly what frustrates them and what solutions they tried before but didn’t work.
If you create generic, self-serving articles and videos, you’ll never see success.
No matter how hard you promote this content or how you designed it to rank well in search engines, you’re going to struggle to find new clients and customers.
The best-in-class content marketers work tirelessly to adapt their content to the target audiences they want to attract — and where they are in the customer journey.
5. Writing Enticing Headline
Understanding the customer journey and their needs is critical to making great content, but it’s not the only strategy you’ll need to draw in new customers and leads.
The most important piece of the work you create is the headline. This is what will drive the most clicks and draw in new traffic.
You should spend lots of time crafting a headline that appeals to your most targeted customers.
Of course, you shouldn’t always have negative headlines.
But if you have a list of mistakes or talk about the worst strategies that could hurt your customer, this can be an effective way to drive traffic.
According to Demand Metric, companies with blogs generate 67 percent more leads per month than those who don’t.
If you’re going to produce this content, you need to make sure it works to its best ability.
7. Make Your Content More Visual
Humans love visual content. For your content to appeal to your ideal readers, make sure there’s more to it than just large blocks of text.
Including lots of images, charts, and graphs is a technique I use to make my content more appealing, and I’m not alone.
90 percent of bloggers include images in their posts, and those who add multiple images report stronger results.
The more visual your content, the more likely it’s likely to improve your inbound marketing efforts.
6. Write In-Depth Data-Driven Articles
Instead of writing short posts, you should be doing extensive research and producing in-depth content.
According to research by Curata, long-form content generates eight times more page views, nine times more leads, and three times more social media shares than short-form content.
You should be writing articles that are a few thousand words long and supported by lots of data and analysis.
This is not only better for your SEO rankings, but it’s also more helpful for your customers.
The better your content, the more likely your readers are to share it with friends, recommend your site to others, and implement what you say.
8. Use Storytelling in Your Content
Just because you base your content around data and analysis doesn’t mean it needs to be dry and academic.
You should work to produce the opposite type of content. You want to create articles that tell a story.
Why?
Using storytelling in your content (from sales pages to social media posts) is a way to create an emotional connection with your audience.
Storytelling has another powerful function. It creates brand recall. Research by Stanford University shows people are 63 percent more likely to remember a story than a statistic.
Not convinced?
Chris Haddad (a relationship coach) went from a 2 percent conversion rate to 8 percent by changing his sales page to include a relatable personal story.
How can you use this tactic in your startup? Look for opportunities to weave in stories when talking about your product or business.
Sure, your benefits and features are great, but the emotional connection you create with storytelling will close the sale and help grow your startup through inbound marketing.
This is because it provides you with backlinks, authority in the space, and relationships with key influencers.
But most people go about it the wrong way. If you aren’t using smart strategies to spread your startup’s message through guest posting, you might as well not do it.
If you want to reap the benefits of guest posting, you need to write consistently.
This is how the most successful startup owners have made guest blogging work well for them. Instead of a few posts, they wrote prolifically and gained ground quickly.
If you do a Google search for guest posts by Danny Iny, you’ll find dozens of pieces of content across the web.
This massive, consistent guest-posting strategy allowed him to grow his business Mirasee into the powerhouse it is today.
On his homepage, he displays an in-depth list of all the sites where he has been featured.
Dedicate some of your time to creating compelling content for other blogs to reach as many customers as possible.
10. Pitch to Blogs with Engaged Readers
Another problem I see with entrepreneurs who want to use guest posting as an inbound marketing strategy is that they don’t look for sites that will give them much ROI.
The truth is that every guest post requires work, and that’s work that needs to give you a distinct benefit in visitors or leads.
If you post on a blog that has a dead audience, you won’t get any benefit, and you’ll have wasted your time.
I like to look at the comments on different sites. For example, if I wanted to write a guest blog for WordStream, I can see their posts get lots of relevant comments.
This tells me the readers are engaged, and a blog post here might result in readers clicking through to my startup’s website and purchasing from me.
11. Maximize Your Results from SEO with Keyword Optimization
You need to understand SEO to achieve any success with your startup in today’s search-driven marketplace.
The most important things to focus on are basic on-page SEO and backlinks for your site and your content.
How do you do that? Keyword optimization.
You want to find specific long-tail keywords which you’d like to use for targeting your content.
The more specific someone is in their search, the more likely they know what they want and are close to converting into a customer.
12. Promote Your Content to Build Backlinks
Backlinks are perhaps the most important factor in your search engine results.
At the simplest level, backlinks are other sites that link to your site. There are lots of ways to increase the number of backlinks you get to your content.
By promoting your content to other relevant influencers, you can increase the number of people that link back to you.
The exact number of backlinks you need to be successful on the search engines varies depending on the keyword, topic, and the competing sites that are ranking well now.
With careful prompting, though, you can easily outrank pages on massive sites with more authority.
Not sure where to start with backlinks? I’ve created a free backlink checker tool you can use to find out who is linking to your startup’s competition.
13. Acquire Inbound Marketing Leads with Free Content
When it’s time to convert your visitors into leads, you need bulletproof strategies to get people to give you their email addresses.
The best method I’ve seen is to offer free content in exchange for this contact information.
If your startup is in the B2B sector, or if you appeal to customers who want or need in-depth analysis before purchasing, you can make an effective lead magnet from a report.
This is a great way to get leads because the comprehensiveness of your work seems like a great deal for an email address.
HubSpot’s list of marketing statistics includes a pitch for their “State of Inbound Marketing” report. This is a detailed guide with massive amounts of high-quality data.
But they aren’t giving this away for free. To receive the report, you need to provide a detailed amount of information that HubSpot will use to follow up with you on their products.
This is an effective way to drive your visitors into your sales funnel and reach them even more effectively.
14. Host a Free Webinar
One of my favorite inbound marketing techniques for startups is free webinars that encourage customers to learn in real-time.
This is great because it lets them see your face and understand your personality. Besides, lots of people will download a guide and never read it.
But if someone signs up for a webinar, you can see if they watch the whole thing.
I have used this kind of training on my homepage in the past. I didn’t call it a webinar, though. I just used the term “training.”
This is a great way to increase your leads as visitors must enter their first name and email address to access the training.
Since this is such a valuable teaching piece, people who come to my website are happy to provide their email address to learn SEO better.
15. Launch an Email Course
There’s another form of content you can create that will drive new customers.
Even better, it won’t require the extensive research that a report demands or the complicated backend software necessary for a webinar.
That strategy is to create an email course. This is a simple way to provide extra value without spending tons of time creating something with design elements or video.
If you’re currently giving away an e-book for your startup and you’ve found that it isn’t converting well, consider breaking down the content into sections.
Then use each section as a separate email. You may find that an email course or a masterclass converts even better than an ebook.
16. Start an Influencer Marketing Campaign
According to a survey by Influencer Marketing Hub, 75 percent of brands have a dedicated budget for influencer marketing, and 90 percent of respondents believe it’s an effective form of advertising.
If you do this the right way, it can be a free or paid method to get people excited about your brand.
First and most importantly, you need to make sure you’re appealing to the right influencers.
This is easy to get wrong, as the people you think you’re appealing to may not be persuasive to your target audience.
The earlier research you did on your audience should be a great starting place to understand who they pay attention to, but you might need to do even more work than that.
How do you find the right influencers for your startup? You can:
Google phrases like “top [niche] influencers.
Browse hashtags on Instagram related to your niche.
Use Influencer platforms to connect with creators.
Search key phrases on Ubersuggest to find blogs that appeal to your target audience.
17. Build Relationships with Influencers
Once you know which influencers are best for your brand, you need to start targeting them specifically.
While you can just run into promotion and start spamming them with requests to share the content you created, this won’t be very effective.
You’ll irritate them and ruin the relationship.
Instead, you need to start slow and gradually build a relationship with the influencers you’d like to promote your content.
You should also do everything you can to help those influencers by providing communication that’s always focused on their needs.
While it may seem frustrating to always focus on them, you’ll eventually start to build a relationship that allows you to make a small request.
If you’ve built great relationships from the start, they’ll be happy to oblige.
18. Build Effective Email Campaigns
You already know that email marketing is critical to a successful inbound marketing campaign for your startup.
But are you using it effectively?
Email marketing has a massive ROI.
According to Litmus, the average ROI was $42 for every $1 spent on emails.
But to make it work, you need to be strategic with how you promote your brand through email.
19. Send Helpful Content to Subscribers
First and foremost, you need to be useful to your subscribers. When someone signs up, you need to provide them with a reason to stay on your email list.
If you’re constantly spamming them or sending worthless content, they’ll unsubscribe and probably never return.
Instead, send emails with valuable information they can’t get anywhere else.
Buzzsumo does a great job with this in their articles and emails. Their weekly update includes a report on engagement on Facebook, based on 880-million posts.
That’s a hugely valuable piece of content I want to read.
More importantly, I want to stay subscribed to the newsletter, and I’ll keep looking forward to their emails.
This is the kind of reaction you need to build with your subscribers. If they’re looking forward to your marketing, you’re doing it correctly.
20. Stick with Email Marketing for The Long Term
You need to be in the email game for the long term.
If you’re not consistently providing great content with your inbound marketing, you’re going to be frustrated.
Instead of pitching your product immediately after someone signs up on your email list, send them a welcome sequence that gradually introduces them to what you have to offer.
In short, the vast majority of websites aren’t appealing to mobile users, and they aren’t putting in the work they need to make these changes.
Instead of actually converting their mobile customers, they’re losing out on valuable traffic.
Don’t let that happen to you. Make sure your site is responsive and that it works well on mobile.
22. Install Hello Bar
If you want to get more conversions from the traffic you’re sending to your site, you should consider installing Hello Bar.
This is a simple tool that allows you to add a signup form at the top of your website. Since it’s unobtrusive, it won’t distract from the user experience.
But since it’s always at the top of your pages, it will drive massive conversions.
It’s a great way to get a few new leads each day.
23. Drive Conversions with Content Upgrades
If you want to skyrocket the conversions you’re getting from the content you publish on your website, look no further than a content upgrade.
Unlike a traditional lead magnet, a content upgrade will optimize your highest-converting pieces of content.
Because the people reading this article are interested in finding out more about the words that can make their writing more effective, this is a great way to encourage them to sign up.
You can do the same thing. To make this work, find a popular article and create a custom bonus that adds to the piece of content you’ve already written.
Link this in the article, and watch the new leads for your startup skyrocket.
24. Test and Refine Your Inbound Marketing Strategies
It’s no secret that I think testing is the only way to improve all kinds of marketing.
This applies to the inbound marketing strategies you’re using for your startup as well.
You need to monitor your results and make gradual improvements to different components of your campaign.
If they don’t work as expected, you should refine those strategies and try something new. But even if they do work for you, I recommend going back and making improvements.
Keeping an A/B split-test running at all times is a great way to make small but consistent changes to your marketing strategy and to make sure everything is working at its best.
Inbound Marketing Strategy FAQs
What is an inbound marketing strategy?
An inbound marketing strategy attracts prospects to your brand by creating valuable content that is relevant and helpful.
What are the five inbound principles?
The five principles of inbound marketing are standardize, contextualize, optimize, personalize, and empathize.
What are the types of inbound marketing?
Videos, blogs, pillar pages, eBooks, social media, press releases, infographics, newsletters, research papers, podcasts, webinars, and expert interviews.
How do you develop an inbound strategy?
You need to know the purpose of your content, your target audience, and how your content fits in with the buyer’s journey.
Inbound Marketing Strategies Summary
If you’re launching a startup, you want to make sure you’re implementing the best practices for extremely fast growth.
By now, you know that inbound marketing is the most effective way to increase your visitors, leads, and buyers.
You’ll need to attract customers by understanding their deepest needs, aspirations, and struggles. Using that data, create epic content that draws them in like a magnet.
Extend your reach to other sites, present your content around the web, acquire new customers, and build your influence and authority.
You’ll need to include SEO best practices so that customers can find you through search engines as well.
Once you have the traffic, convert those visitors with free content and influencer marketing that drives leads.
With a compelling email campaign and a high-converting website, you can grow your business like never before.
Which inbound marketing strategies will you use to grow your startup?
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